CREATIVE CONTEST: “Very Swish” by Bethan Rose Jenkins

Our Creative Contest was very popular and brought to our eyes some great pieces of literature; here is another one of them, a short story about a “very swish” car drive. Enjoy!

Very Swish by Bethan Rose Jenkins

I lost a tooth in a Cadbury’s éclair, once.

Strange, the things that you remember. I can recall the sensation so clearly. The durable adhesive of the toffee pushed back against me as I tried to pull apart my teeth. That distinct sensation of a tooth peeling out of its place.

Lodged fast in a fat toffee. Funny, really.

It was in the back of my grandparents’ car on the way home from school. They’d been to collect my sister, our Emily, and me. They came to take us out to tea. Normally Mum came for us. It was only a small deviation from normality but it’s always exciting for children; change. They came in the Jaguar.

Pale blue exterior. Cream leather interior. Very swish.

Very swish and a source of pride, somewhat, for Grandad. He was always a little skeptical about having our Emily in the back (travel-sickness, you see). I was never a hassle, which is why it came as such as shock for them that day. The whole éclair escapade.

My two front teeth were long gone, but the tooth fairy was still a frequent caller to the underside of my pillow. Left me a small fortune that year, the tooth fairy did, so naturally, anything I could do to help another one of those pearly whites on its way, the better.

Then I found a bumper-big bag of Cadbury’s éclairs under the cream seats of the swish Jag.

“Just the one!” with a wink, said Nana.

It was that sensation (the durable adhesive of the toffee), that did it. I had a bright idea.

Our Emily told me not to. Not with words, with eyes. She watched me chomp each toffee on the mid-right side of my jaw, seeking out the snagging tooth with the toffee. She smirked as I swallowed each one without success, spurring me on to succeed.

I had practically inhaled the whole packet by the time I felt it. That distinct sensation of a tooth peeling out of its place.

Lodged fast in a fat toffee.

I held it up, victorious. Our Emily was amazed, open-mouthed in awe.

I caught Nana’s eye in the rear-view mirror, she spun round in shock. She took it all in: